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E ?H0 

Samuel Finley Viyiton. 231 



SAMUEL FINLEY VINTON.* 

\^ 
By Madelene Vinton Dahlgren. 

It was peculiarly characteristic of the patriotic unselfishness 
that was the dominating principle of the public career of Samuel 
F. Vinton that he never paused, while laboring with unremitting 
zeal for his country, to prepare any journal, or written notes of 
any kind, that might assist the biographer to give the story of his 
own life. 

Unaided, therefore, by that light which he himself could 
best have thrown upon the record of a service that was singu- 
larly useful to the nation, one must look elsewhere for the 
desired information. 

In so far as the facts that meet the common eye are con- 
cerned, the Congressional records give the official history, but 
back of this, and forever screened by his reticence regarding 
himself, stands after all the real man, the impelling motives, the 
essential qualities, that moulded all his acts into one consistent 
whole. 

It may seem startling to say so, but his ab.solute lack of 
personal ambition, which repeated the severest types of the 
ancients, was to my apprehension unfortunate in its conse- 
quences. For, had Mr. Vinton grasped as most men do the 
opportunities of the power that high station gives, of the occa- 
sions which were offered to him, and from which he turned 
aside, it is safe to say, that an influence that was never exerted 
but for the right would have vastly broadened. 

Ambition properly regulated is for the American citizen a 
divine right of sovereignty! In this connection I desire to quote 
from some remarks made by the Hon. Robert C. Winthrop at a 



*This interesting and valuable sketch of Mr. Vinton was written by 
his daughter, Mrs. Dahlgren. of-i;*tw-¥tyrk-City. It was prepared at the 
request of the Secretary of this Society for publication in this volume. 
Mr. Vinton's argument on the boundary line between Ohio and Virginia 
appears elsewhere in this volume and is one of the ablest legal pleas ever 
made before an American court. — H. O. R. 



232 Ohio Arch and His. Society Publications. [\'OL. 4 

meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Society, held in October, 
1890. when Mr. Winthrop said of Mr. \'inton : 

"He was a man of eminent ability, of great political expe- 
rience and wisdom, and of tlie highest integrity and personal 
excellence. He might at one time have been Secretary of the 
Treasury had he been willing to accept that office. He might 
have been Speaker of the House of Representatives of the 
Ignited States in 1^47 had he not positively declined the nomi- 
nation." 

Are these not offices which, as Mr. Webster said of the 
Presidency, "should be neither sought for )ior declined'' f 

Reverting to the "Vinton Memorial," compiled by the Rev. 
John Adams \'inton, I find that the subject of this sketch was 
the direct descendant in the sixth generation of John Vinton, of 
Lynn, Massachusetts, who emigrated to America in 1»US. The 
traditions of the race all confirm the idea that the founder of the 
family in this country was a descendant of the de Vintonnes who 
were exiled from France in the seventeenth century, on account 
of being Huguenot. 

Samuel Finley was born at South Hadley, Massachu.setts, 
September 25, 171)2, and called after his great uncle. Dr. Samuel 
Finley Vinton, who.se name appears, as also that of his grand- 
father, in the Mas.sachusetts archives as one of the "minute 
men," that marched on the "Lexington alarm" in 1775. 

Abiathan \'inton, the father of Samuel iMuley, was an 
adopted son of Dr. \'inton, who bequeathed to him most of his 
estate. He is spoken of in the "Vinton Memorial" as "a sub- 
stantial farmer in easy circumstances." He married in 17!*1, 
Sarah Day. The progenitor of the Day family emigrated from 
England to New England in l()o4. In the Day genealogy occur 
the names of a President of Yale and a Secretary of State of the 
State of Connecticut, and this honorable record continues to be 
sustained. We would especially mention a first cousin to whom 
Mr. Vinton was greatly attached, Mr. Henry Day, of New York 
City, wlio is conspicuous as an able jurist. 

Samuel Finley being the oldest of seven children, it was the 
intention of his father to train him as a farmer, so that he might 
be of assistance in the labors of the farm. But from an early 



Samuel Finley Vinton. 233 

A^^ the thoughtful, studious boy ardently desired to receive a 
liberal education, and his wise father soon became convinced 
that it was his duty to aid the wishes of his son. A younger 
sister used to relate with great glee the conversation at a family 
council at the time it was finally decided to send "Finley" (as 
he was always called at home) to college, when each member 
had to suggest something they were willing to give up, so as to 
make a common contrii)ution towards the desired end. A 
charming picture of a united family, in which the adv^antages 
of a liberal education were properly appreciated. 

Mr. Vinton graduated at \Villian)s College in 1814. He 
studied law with the Hon. Stephen Titus Hosmer, afterwards 
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut; and while 
he was a law student he gave lessons in Latin. In 1816 he was 
admitted to the Connecticut bar. Finding that the profession 
in New England was somewhat crowded, he soon decided to 
seek the wider scope of the West, and went to Ohio, fortified 
with some excellent letters of introduction. After visiting 
several of the then principal towns of the State, he finally went 
to Gallipolis, a village of French emigres, on the Ohio River. 
He had a letter for Mr. Bureau, one of the most influential men 
of the place, and seeking on his arrival to present it, he was 
directed to the Court House, where that gentleman was found 
by him, engaged in the management of some case in his own 
behalf. Mr. Vinton at once perceived that Mr. Bureau was 
letting some nice points escape him, and quietly taking a place 
beside him, he gave him the needed help — soth voce. At first 
Mr. Bureau glanced with surprise at this stranger, who gave his 
uninvited aid, but he at once recognized the valuable assistance 
with quick intelligence. When the short trial was over, Mr. 
Bureau said to Mr. Vinton, "You have won my case, what is 
your fee?" Of course a fee was declined, and the letter pre- 
sented. Mr. Bureau then took Mr. \'inton home to dinner, 
introducing him to his two charming and very carefully educated 
daughters, who had just returned from their French pensioyinlat 
at Philadelphia. Mr. Bureau urged his young friend to locate in 
Gallipolis, and doubtless the beauty and grace of the younger 
daughter, Romaine Madelene, whom he married in 1824, aided 



234 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 

his decision. He established himself in ihe practice of the law 
at Gallipolis. 

The "Vinton Memorial" says: "His first eflforts at the 
bar attracted much attention, and by the end of the first year he 
was in the enjoyment of an extensive and prosperous business. 
During six years he continued to achieve the most flattering 
success; rising constantly in public estimation, his income 
steadily increasing, and having apparently no inclination for 
public life, and no taste for party politics. Without any agency 
or wish of his own, he unexpectedly found himself, in the 
autumn of 1S22, nominated for a seat in Congress, b}^ a large 
meeting of the people of his district. His election over two 
formidable competitors was a decisive token of the public 
esteem." 

The astonishment this immediate success created in his New 
England home is pleasantly depicted in an anecdote told me not 
many years ago by an aged relative. He said that he happened 
to be at the \'inton farm one day, when a letter was received 
from Mr. \'inton bv his father, in which he mentioned bavins: 
selected Gallipolis as a residence, and asked his father the loan 
of eight hundred dollars for one year, to enable him to purchase 
the needed law books, as there was no law library and no books 
at hand to refer to in the pro.secution of his cases. The old 
gentleman looked serious, for this was a heavy and an unex- 
pected drain upon a New Kngland farmer situated as he was, 
but j)resenlly he said: " Finley must have the tools to work 
with, but I expect to have to make it a i^if't. not a loan.'". 

Evidently he never supposed his son could earn that sum in 
one year, or indeed in any definite time, and his surprise was 
great when some months later, and long before the expiration of 
the year, "the loan"' was refunded. But the grateful recollec- 
tion of an afft'Ctionatc child did not end there, for to the day of 
their death the filial devotion of a good son comfortedjiis excel- 
lent parents. 

It is a pathetic circumstance that lliis estimable couple died 
within a few days of eacli other, the loving wife being ill at tlie 
time of Ikt venerable husband's decease and unable to survive 
the sliock of his loss. 



Samuel Finley Vinton. 235 

Shortly before his death, Mr. Vinton's father had the grati- 
fication of seeing for himself the esteem his gifted son had so 
quickly won in the place of his adoption, as he visited him at his 
home in Gallipolis. The old gentleman was of genial and 
pleasant manners, very suave and of much intelligence and 
refinement. The fact is, the Massachusetts farmer of the class 
to which he belonged was of a superior type of men such as few 
countries have ever possessed. If you found them during the 
day like Ciucinuatus at the plow, the evening was given to 
books, and to a mental activity that kept pace with the progress 
of the age. Besides, Mr. Vinton's father had been carefully 
trained in the home of his uncle, Dr. Vinton, an accomplished 
phj'sician, who had adopted him as his son and heir. * -•' * 

On the threshold of Mr. \'intou's political career, we pause 
to insert verbatim a communication received some years ago 
from one who knew him well and whose opinion is entitled to 
the highest respect. The)- are the recollections of Mr. John T. 
Brasee, himself an excellent lawyer, of Mr. Vinton. Mr. Brasee 
says : 

" M}' acquaintance with Mr. Vinton commenced in the 
autumn of 1819, and continued during his life. From 1819 to 
1820, I resided at Athens, where he regularly attended the courts. 
In 1826, I commenced the practice of law at G^fllipolis, where he 
resided, and until 18->5 we rode the same circuit together and 
practiced in the same counties. So I may say, I knew him well. 

"Mr. Vinton's mind was remarkably well balanced; all its 
powers worked together harmoniously, giving him the clearest 
conceptions of all subjects he investigated, and in debate he 
imparted those conceptions to his adversaries and auditors, not 
only clearh' and fully, but in the purest and simplest language. 

" Mr. \'intou was a very accomplished lawyer, learned in all 
the departments of his profession, and very skillful in the appli- 
cation of his knowledge to ca.ses as tlie}^ arose on the circuit. In 
his cases in the higher courts, he came to his work well pre- 
pared; unlike most other lawyers, he studied both sides of such 
cases and was therefore never taken by surprise by anything 
developed during the trial on argument. * ^- * 

"From his peculiar habits of investigation, Mr. Vinton was 



236 Ohio Arch. a7id His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 

a remarkably safe lawyer. His professional engagements, how- 
ever small the case, were never neglected. If circumstances 
prevented him, as they sometimes did, from giving his personal 
attention to a case, he provided in some way for it, so that the 
interest of his client should not suffer. 

" Mr. Vinton was a fine advocate. He seldom met his equal 
at the Ohio bar, and never except when he met the late Thomas 
Ewing. The people in his circuit would assemble at each count}'- 
seat in great numbers on the first day of each term of the court. 
Some came to hear him speak, some to employ him as counsel, 
and others to post themselves as to current political events. On 
these occasions his room was almost like a levee, except that the 
men were neither learned nor fashionable, but the sturdy yeo- 
manry of the country. * * * 

"The physical labor, incident to the practice of law in 
Southern Ohio, at the time Mr. Vinton practiced there, was 
great. He traveled over his large circuit four times a year, 
generally on horseback, as that was the only mode of traveling 
at that period. '•' =■' * As often as I have thought on the 
subject, I have been surprised that his fragile frame, unadapted 
and unaccustomed to anything like manual labor, could endure 
so much bodily inconvenience, with all the mental strain he was 
subject to, without any apparent over -work or fatigue. ■•- ^'^ ^= 

"One spring, without Mr. Vinton's knowledge, and in his 
absence, he was elected supervisor of the Gallipolis road district. 
This was brought about by reason of his complaints of the 
neglect of the supervisor of the previous year in not keeping the 
roads and bridges in order. Those who elected him did not 
expect him to qualify or serve, but supposed he would decline 
and pay his fine, which was small. But he promptly qualified, 
and in due time called out his hands, and accompanied them on 
the road daily, supervising their work from day to dav, until 
every man had worked out his two days" lal)or. The hands did 
not re-elect him. They .said lie exacted full work of them, and 
that there was no fun in the thing, as they had supposed. Such 
was his devotion to duty. 

"Mr. \'iiit()n was a man of great moral courage. I never 
knew his ecjual in that respect. In e\er\- exigency of life this 



Samuel Finley Vinton. 237 

trait of character was predominant. It was perhaps the more 
noticeable because of his delicate physical organization. * * * 

" Mr. Vinton was an exceedingly companionable gentleman. 
He met the court, the bar. and his personal friends upon a plane 
of equality. He made every one around him feel pleasantly, 
while by his wise thoughts and words he was delighting them. 
He was always especially kind in manner to the young men at 
the bar, and always disposed to give them aid and coun.sel in 
their professional difficulties, lie was sagacious about all the 
affairs of human life. He perfectly understood the motives that 
impelled to action, and was a consummate judge of all classes of 
men. I have frequently thought he could elicit the truth from 
the nature of the falsehoods of a lying witness. * -■' '-•' 

•' Mr. Vinton never was a politician, but a statesman in the 
best sense of the term. He told me while in Congress, that as 
often as any new measure came u]) there, the question at once 
arose with many members, 'How will this affect my popularity 
at home?' 'As to myself,' said he, ' I never spend my thoughts 
upon such questions. How will the measure affect the country? 
occupies all my thoughts.' 

"The late Mr. Thomas Ewing told me, shortly after Mr. 
Vinton's death, 'That when he died the wisest statesman in 
Washington died.' 

"When Mr. Vinton was first started to Congress, Jackson 
county was in his district, and continued so for many years, until 
a new districting took place, when it was placed in Ross district. 
The autumn when this change took effect, I think in lSo:2, Mr. 
Vinton attended the Jackson Court of Common Pleas, and after 
it was about over, he made a speech at the Court House to his 
former constituency of that county. It was a great .speech, 
equally creditable to the head and heart. He called to mind his 
first election, the generous manner in which they turned out to 
secure it. when he was young and wholly unknown in the 
political arena, and for this generous confidence he had ever 
been grateful. He considered in detail the leading measures 
that had passed Congress during his .service, that he regarded as 
beneficial to the Western people. He pointed out questions that 
were to arise in the future that would be freighted, some with 



238 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 

good and others with great evil and mischief to the country. 
From these texts he spoke expansively, boldly and manfully; 
sometimes bringing tears from most of his large audience. * -'' * 

"Mr. Vinton's constituency were more than usually intelli- 
gent, having a large mixture of New England people and their 
descendants. The most intelligent men among them were 
always proud of him as their Representative and controlled 
matters so as to keep him in Congress about as long as he would 
serve." * -'• * 

Mr. Brasee, in these interesting reminiscences, has spoken 
of the "moral courage" of Mr. Vinton. He had also extraordi- 
nary physical fearles.sness, as was evidenced on various occasions. 

It is related of him, that once when riding along a lonely 
highway, he was accosted by a notorious desperado, who he 
had been warned intended to do him harm, when he said to the 
fellow: "Whenever you are ready, by day or night, come on, 
I am ready. Good -day," and he rode on unmolested. 

* * ^K Reverting to expressed opinions of Mr. \'inton as 
a lawyer, Mr. Winthrop says, "That he practiced his profession 
with great success and 'distinction,' of which numerous cases 
could be cited before the Circuit Courts, the Supreme Court of 
Ohio and the Supreme Court of the United States. There was 
one case that I mention as being of public and enduring import- 
ance that Mr. Vinton was appointed by the Governor of Ohio to 
go to Richmond and argue. The argument was delivered before 
the General Court of \"irginia at its December term in 1S4.3. 
The real point at issue being the protection of the " rights of 
sovereignty and of soil." on a boundary question between the 
States of \''irginia and Ohio, involved in the locality of the recap- 
ture of certain slaves, alleged to have been abducted. 

The opening of this defense is a master- piece of dispas- 
sionate rejily. Mr. \'inton in few, calm, yet forceful words, 
covers the whole field with logical precision, and shows the true 
subject at issue. The good taste, the dignity of the defense are 
consummate. 

Is it irrelevant in this matter, and as illustrating Mr. \'in- 
ton's calm, personal bravery, to mention, that at the time he 
went to Richmond to argue this case, there existed an intensely 



Samuel Finley Vbiton. 239 

-excited state of public feeling there on the subject, which he had 
fully measured, for when the writer of this sketch, then a 3oung 
girl, begged to be permitted to accompany her father to the 
Capital of Virginia, he said that he "did not deem it safe for her 
to go with him at that time." '■" * * 

Colonel Charles Whittlesey, in his pamphlet, "Western 
Reserve — Origin of Title," written for the Historical Society of 
northern Ohio in 1876, says of this argument: "Its style is 
unusually interesting, the diction clear, and the investigation 
exhaustive. Mr. Vinton exhibits the acuteness of a good lawyer, 
the broad perceptions of a statesman and the eloquence of a 
practiced historian." 

And here let me state that I prefer, whenever I can do so, 
rather to quote from other sources than to give my own conclu- 
sions, so that it may not be supposed that partiality for a parent 
has influenced judgment. 

A memoir of my father that appeared in the A^nerican 
Review of September, 1848, saj^s: " It was with more of surprise 
than pleasure that in the j'ear 1822, he suddenly found himself, 
without any agency or wish of his own. nominated for a seat in 
Congress by a large meeting of the people of his electoral 
district. 

"He had two formidable competitors, over whom he was 
elected, and for fourteen years, by a merited confidence from his 
constituency, he continued to be returned with increasing ma- 
jorities, until in ]8oG, he voluntarily withdrew from public life. 

" From the first, that power of labor and that prompt instinct 
of the useful, of the substance of things, which had so quickly 
made Mr. Vinton a leading lawyer, rendered him an efficient 
representative. 

"He applied to each question as it arose, his strong powers 
of investigation, and as he was never the man to waste his time 
or that of the House on attempts at display, on efforts to shine, 
he soon mastered the main business of legislation, contributed 
to perfecting it, where the young member can best serve as he 
learns, in committees, and early began to make himself felt in 
the origination of sub.stantive measures of importance." 

Mr. Vinton entered Congress as a Representative in 1828, 



240 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [VoL. 4' 

and was placed for several successive sessions on the Committee 
of the Public Land. He was from the outset on the alert to 
suppress fraudulent practices at the public sales, and he greatly 
desired that these sales should be used for great purposes of 
acknowledged utility for some national object or objects. The 
result of his labors in this direction is admirabh^ given in the 
American Review, which saj-s: 

"In 1826 he brought forward and carried through the 
House of Representatives a modification of the Land Laws as 
to whatever, by the original ordinance of May 20, 1785, was set 
apart in order to found, in all the future States to be formed out 
of the National Domain, a great system of popular instruction. 
By this ordinance (see Laws of the United States, Vol. 1, p. o(3o), 
was reserved from sale in each township, for purposes of educa- 
tion, one section of land (six hundred and forty acres), that is, 
one thirty -sixth of the whole surface. 

"But this endowment and its beneficent purposes was prov- 
ing a sad failure from the wa.ste of local management, or the 
spoil of local combinations. A wretched system of leases and 
tenantry had in particular arisen under it. 

"The correction which Mr. \'inton brought about began, 
prudently, with an experimental change in his own State: his 
law empowered the Legi.slature of Ohio to sell the school lands 
within her borders, and to invest the proceeds in some perma- 
nent, productive fund, the income to be foroxor applied to the 
support of schools within the township for whose use the land 
was originally reserved. Becoming at first the law of Ohio only, 
the benefits of this bill have been extended in succession to the 
rest of the United States. * -•' '=^ Few of our legislators have 
had the good fortune to achieve a public service greater than 
this, or which will be more felt by posterity in that which will 
forever make its dearest part, its moral and intellectual being."* 

Speaking on this subject, Mr. Robert C. W'inlhropf says of 
Mr. X'inton: "It was to him that Ohio t)wed the passage of a 



^ For the debate on this hill, Gales ic Seatou's Register, Vol. 2, 
part 1, p. S;}*), 1st Session, lilth Congress. 

t Remarks of lion. Robert C. Winthrop at a meeting of the Massa- 
chusetts Historical Society. October K, iS'.tU. 



Sa7}iucl Finlcy Vintoii. 241 

law authorizing and empowering her Legislature to sell the 
school lands which had been granted her by Congress in 1H08, 
and which covered a full thirty -sixth part of her whole terri- 
tory, and to invest the proceeds in a permanent fund, of which 
the income should be forever applied to the support of schools. 
The benefits of this law have since been extended to all the new 
States. Mr. Vinton is thus most honorably associated with the 
first great measure of national aid for education." 

In the course of his remarks about Mr. Vinton, Mr. Win- 
throp adds: "It was my privilege to enjoy his friendship and 
confidence during all my congressional career. We were in 
sympathy and accord as members of the old Whig party during 
that whole period of eleven or twelve years, without the slightest 
disagreement on any important question of public interest. Our 
friendship and confidential correspondence ended only wdth his 
death. '^ * ^ I look back with pleasure and with pride to 
an intimate association in Washington with not a few of the 
most eminent men of Ohio. * '''- * But there are none of 
thera whom I recall with greater respect, or with a warmer or 
more affectionate regard, than vSamuel Fiule^' Vinton." 

The recognized distinguished public service of Mr. Wiu- 
throp is such that I have transcribed his generous words regard- 
ing his friend literally, being fully aware of the weight his 
words carry. 

* * * But not only as regarded the placing of her public 
schools upon a sure and enduring foundation, so as permanently 
to increase the means of education in Ohio, was his public ser- 
vice inestimable, but also in relation to defining the boundary 
lines as between Virginia on the South, and her northern bound-, 
ary with the then territory of Michigan; and was likewise watch- 
ful to promote a system of internal improvements for her roads, 
rivers and canals. 

In these and other measures of importance to Ohio as they 
arose, his untiring and efhcient services were of great value. 
Like a loving son, he was ever ready to protect her name from 
even the shadow of aspersion. 

How often did he take occasion on the floor of the House 
to point out the superior advantages which she po.ssessed. With 



242 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [\'OL. 4 

what affectionate pride did he speak of the people of Ohio, f 
"their cheerful submission to the general government, their 
firmness and resolution in maintaining their own rights," attrib- 
uting " the sources of her prosperit}' not solely to the salubrity 
of her climate, the richness of her soil, but more than all to the 
moral worth, the enterprise and industry of her people." * * * 

As early as the first session of the nineteenth Congress, 
1825-20, Mr. Vinton became deeply interested in the legislative 
provisions necessary to carry into execution our treaties with the 
various tribes of Indians, and concerning measures needed for 
their relief. His first solicitude was for the Florida Indians, 
later on for the Clioctaw Nation. In some remarks made in 1827 
in their behalf he dwelt upon the evident duty of the House to 
see that our negotiations with this poor and oppressed race were 
fairly and properly conducted. 

On May 24, 1830, he addressed the House in a speech of two 
hours against the removal of the Indians beyond the Mississippi. 
In this ringing speech, which reads in its eloquent appeal like a 
chapter of "A Century of Dishonor," he recapitulates the injus- 
tices, the perfidies, inflicted on the Florida, the Quapaeo, the 
Delawares and other tribes of Indians whom we had reduced to 
distress by removal. In this speech he advocated "giving them 
the right of individuality of property," and " also to place them 
under the influence of schools," characterizing their removal as 
" a work of desolation and cruelty," and he also pointed out the 
fact that many of the southern Indians had negro slaves with 
them, whom they carried beyond the latitude of 30° 30', emi- 
grating with them, and he commented on our treaty with the 
Cherokees as a direct and gross violation of all justice. If the 
country, he asserted, was charged with any violation of public 
faith which bore with particular force upon its national character, 
it was this, of its obligations to and contract with the Aborigines. 

Mr. \'inton's deep interest in the welfare of the Indian, and 
the consequent careful investigation of legislation regarding 
them, led him in a very unexpected direction. But in the recital 
of this matter, I prefer again to (luote from the .\nurican Rcvicic, 
which says : 

" Mr. \'inton"s next great public service consisted in not an 



Samuel Finlcy Vinton. 243 

act of Congress brought about, but in a cunningly devised 
scheme of legislation foiled and defeated. 

" Mr. Calhoun set forth his project in a somewhat elaborate 
paper from the war office, dated January 24, 1825.* -'- * * 
The ensuing administration of the War Department, under Gov- 
ernor Barbour, found this policy actively organized, and in the 
process of silent and sure execution. He adopted it and urged 
the scheme in a project for the preservation and civilization of 
the Indian, communicated on February 3, 1826, to the Com- 
mittee on Indian Affairs. Mr. \'inton soon penetrated the con- 
sequences and was able finally to defeat them by making them 
apparent to others. 

"It was, it seems, intended that under the plea of the 
impossibility of carrying out this great work of benevolence, 
otherwise than by uniting the Indians in a single region, that 
region was to be drawn on the west and north of the line of the 
Missouri compromise, so as to cut off the formation of any 
further States in that direction, while the tribes of the south 
translated almost entirely north of the parallel of 36° 30\ should 
leave the slave States an open frontier acro.ss which to extend 
themselves indefinitely west. This astute plan would, one maj- 
now readily .see, if executed, have secured to the South a perma- 
nent political ascendanc}'. * * * Except in that part of 
Michigan, then a territory, no free State could ever have been 
formed in the West this side the Rocky Mountains. * * H- 

"Mr. Vinton's attention became directed thither, and he 
discovered the reach of the scheme, as well as its bearing upon 
the interests and power of the West. He determined at once to 
apply himself to its defeat^ 

"The Committee of Indian Affairs had, for two of three 
successive sessions, reported bills for carrying this policy into 
effect, but tho.se bills had, through the pressure of business, 
either never reached or not been acted on b}' the House. 

" In this state of things, at the first session of the Twentieth 
Congress (1827-28), Mr. McDuffie, then Chairman of the Com- 
mittee of Wavs and Means, moved as an amendment to the 



See Document 64, second session of Eighteenth Congress, H. R. 



244 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [\''OL. 4 

Indian Appropriation Bill, the appropriation of $.jU,OUO towards 
removing beyond the Mississippi tlie Cherokees and such other 
Indians as might consent to emigrate. The real object of the 
measure was not the appropriation itself, but something more 
important; to commit the country and draw it into this policy. 
To counteract and expose the movement, Mr. Vinton offered an 
amendment to Mr. McDuffie's proposition, attaching to it the 
following conditions: That no Indian or Indians living north 
of latitude 3(J° oO' shall be aided in removing south of that line, 
nor any living south of it be aided in removing north of it. 

" Upon this amendment Mr. Vinton made a speech, in which 
he examined and developed the whole plan, its effects upon the 
Western States and its relation to the balance of political power, 
as between the slave -holding and the non- slave -holding States. 
His discourse,* full of weight and .sense, but marked with the 
firmness and moderation which have always distinguished him, 
told at once upon the public attention, and although his amend- 
ment was voted dowai, ^et the debate and the subsequent oppo- 
sition which it formed to the scheme of transferring the Southern 
Indians North, under such territorial guarantees, ultimately 
compelled the abandonment of the plan, and ever after the 
aborigines, of whatever latitude when removed West, have been 
carried forward as Mr. X'inlon proposed, upon the parallels of 
latitude to which they belonged. Tt) him, then, the West owes 
the subsequent admission of both Wisconsin and Iowa." 

As regards my father's own estimation of the ultimate 
consequence of thiis being able to thwart the.se machinations for 
the supremacy of the South, I have a private letter of his, iu 
which he alludes to this result as probably the most important 
public service he had accomplished at that time. Although he 
was modest in the appreciation of his own efforts, yet his mental 
perceptions were invariably so clear as to enable him accurately 
to measure the scope of that which \\c performed. 

Mr. \'inton was placed, in the Twenty -first ami Twenty- 
second Congress of 1820, 18-30 and 18-)1, on a select committee 
relating lu internal inijirovements and the distribution of the 



"See Gales & Seaton Register of Debates, volume 4, part 2, page 15G8. 



Saimiel Fiidey Vhito7i. 245 

•surplus reveuue amoug the several States after payment of the 
public debt. And in 1832, 1838, 1834, 183o and 1836 on a Com- 
mittee on Roads and Canals; and public lands for school lands 
also claimed his attention. 

It was characteristic of Mr. Vinton's mind to investigate 
any subject placed before him with the most patient diligence, 
and during these years of untiring committee work, he made 
himself the master of the questions relating to the public domain, 
with their cognate branches. He inquired into the effect of the 
existing pre-emption law^s upon the sales of public lands and 
upon that portion of the public revenue. 

In 1820 a debate arose concerning an appropriation to in- 
crease the amount for surveying the public lands of the United 
S ates. Mr. Vinton was opposed to this increase, as he was 
satisfied that too much land was thrown into the market at once, 
in consequence of too rapid a survey of the public lands, and 
thus pressing the market in excess of the demand, thereby 
fostering a sj-stem of speculation. 

This question of increased surveys was repeatedly intro- 
duced, and whenever it aro.se Mr. Vinton debated it and ob- 
jected to bringing more land into market than there was a 
demand for. 

When on the Committee of Internal Improvements, he was 
always in favor of liberal appropriations in their behalf. In 
defining his views he said: "I would keep up the military, 
naval and civil establishments of the country, and, if there was 
any surplus remaining, I would devote it to internal improve- 
ments, and I mean harbors on the seaboard as well as on the 
lakes, improvements on the exterior as well as the interior. I 
would devote it to tho.se purposes that would facilitate inter- 
communication, that would build up the trade of the country; 
not merely among ourselves, but with foreign nations." 

In pursuance of this line of policy, he introduced a bill 
December 11, 1848, granting public lands to certain States 
therein named, to aid them in the construction of roads and 
canals, and the improvement of their rivers, making the appeal 
for public economy, and in order to meet the necessities of pub- 
lic business. 



246 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Picblications. [Vol. 4 

In a speech January' 17, I'^-W, in behalf of the improvement 
of Western waters, he said, that during all the time he had held 
a seat in Congress, when appropriations were proposed for public 
improvements, he had never stopped to inquire in what partic- 
ular section of the Union those improvements were to be made ; 
but that he had voted for all improvements of the utility of 
which he was satisfied, without regard to their location. 

Concerning the constantly disputed question of appropria- 
tions for the District of Columbia, Mr. Vinton said in a speech 
on the subject, that " in contemplation of law and of the Con- 
stitution, this entire district was nothing but a seat of govern- 
ment, and when it was provided that such a district should be 
set apart as the seat of the general government, no other idea 
had ever been entertained but that large appropriations would 
be requisite for it as such, ■'^ * "'=' and as the city increased 
in size they must of course increase in amount." 

Constantly endeavoring to protect the government from a 
waste of expenditure, and to guard the revenue of the public 
domain, he opposed the bill for land bounties to the troops who 
served in Indian wars in the Western country under Wayne and 
others in the last war with Great Britain, in the Florida war, etc. 
He considered these bounties as a pure gratuity the country was 
not in position to grant, and he thought that speculators in these 
warrants would doubtless pocket nearly the whole amount. This 
was in 1850, and Mr. Vinton deemed that the financial condition 
of the country, with its registered debt of ^6o, 000, 000, which 
was then deemed a vast sum, would not justify the loss of rev- 
enue derived from the sale of the public lands. This bill was 
passed to meet the popular clamor, but the result, as usual, 
proved the wisdom of Mr. \'inton's views. But he was always 
opposed to demagogues and demagogism. 

The general estimate as to the value of his labors to pre- 
serve the public domain from waste was voiced by The American 
Review of b'^48, when it said: " Upon one great branch of legis- 
lation, the care and disposal of the public lands, Mr. \'inton has 
long made him.self to be looked to as the leader in the House of 
Representatives, we might safely add in Congress, of the party 
who have watched over their right administration or averted 



Samuel Finlcy Vinton. 247 

their waste. During all the period over which we have pro- 
ceeded (of Mr. Vinton's public service), and especially after the 
accession of General Jackson, unceasing efforts were made; now 
by speculators, now by demagogues, next by a natural coalition 
of the two, and lastly by the auxiliary influence of the adminis- 
tration itself, which was largely made up both of speculators 
and demagogues, to incorporate into the public land system such 
changes as would, without any compensating increase of our 
population, have ruined that branch of the national revenue and 
broken up entire the great machinery. * '^' ^'^ Mr Vinton 
made himself master of the history of the public domain and of 
the policy which has governed its disposal, its management as a 
srreat branch of the national revenue, its relation to other high 
questions, the progress of our population, the enlargement of 
internal commerce, and the connection of all these subjects with 
the social development of that vast central region, destined prob- 
ably in the end to control the fortunes of this Republic." 

"It is not going too far to say that but for his able and 
vigilant resistance of every new scheme for the purpose, but 
especially of that which calls itself ' graduation and deduction,' 
laws would have been passed as far back as 1828 which would 
have resulted in 1.he extinction of that source of public income ; 
have flung open the whole of these wide territories as the scene 
of a general scramble for plunder ; have corrupted still more our 
Government, and have brought about the almost equal evil of 
wild, and wide, and long continued land speculations." * * * 

Questions of tariff, which may change as to detail, but are 
always the same as to the underlying principle, were as hotly 
contested in former Congresses as now. But being then compli- 
cated with the slavery issue, which entered as a disturbing force 
in all our legislation, these discussions were of the most serious 
import. 

As far back as 1828, when a proposed increase of duty on 
molasses imported from the West Indies was debated, Mr. Vinton 
said he ' ' was a firm believer in the American system in its fullest 
extent ; that system being based upon a single and simple prin- 
ciple that the producer, whether farmer or manufacturer, must 
have a market for the fruits of his labors. Protect him in the 



248 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [\'OL. 4 

possession of the market and against ruinous competition, and 
he will take care of himself." 

In this and other speeches on the tariff, Mr. \'iulou showed 
great accuracy of financial detail, so that his opinions were fully 
supported by facts, and were especially convincing. 

In 1833, there grew out of the nullification movement a pro- 
longed debate on the cotton duties proposed in the tariff bill, in 
which Mr. Vinton took a leading part, disproving by carefully 
prepared statistics the accusation made, that the commercial 
policy of the country imposed too onerous a taxation on the 
South. 

In the course of his remarks, he said that he had at all times 
voted to protect and encourage southern industr}-, but he had 
done, and would do, the same for northern capital and industry. 
At that time, South Carolina threatened secession and Georgia 
disunion. Mr. \'inton made an impressive appeal in behalf of 
the Union, in which he said: 

"The Constitution of the United States is the consumma- 
tion of that liljerty and union which our fathers purchased with 
blood, with suffering, and with treasure. It is a perpetual cove- 
nant between them and us, and our posterity. They have trans- 
mitted the precious inheritance to us, and we are bound at every 
cost to hand it down to those who shall come after us. * * * 
When force shall triumph over the Constitution, the government 
is at an end." 

Upon this and other occasions, Mr. \'iuton sustained the 
protective principle, pointing out that the doctrines of free trade 
must necessarily end in direct taxation ; and declaring that he 
"was not a free trade man, and would never agree to impose a 
direct tax, while a system of indirect taxation would answer the 
purposes of government." 

He asserted that if they gave up a tariff, it must necessarily 
end in direct taxation; and that "the protection of the home 
labor of the country was the only sure foundation of public 
prosperity and of abundant supply of revenue." 

As we are now nearing the close of Mr. \'inton's first period 
of service, it may be well to note several other of his motions 
brought before the House, which have more or less general in- 



Samuel Finlcy Vinton. 249 

terest. On May 9, 1834, he reported a 1)111 from the Select Com- 
mittee on Patents, "to erect a fire-proof bnilding for the Patent 
office and for other j^urposes." On June 9, 1884, he proposed to 
extend square west of the Capitol to the foot of the slope and to 
extend the botanical garden to the canal; but these motions did 
not succeed at that time. 

Yet Mr. Vinton foresaw the advisability. He wished in 
1835 to carry the graduation of reduction of postage. This, he 
said, would increase instead of reducing the revenue. A fact 
since proved. 

He objected to members of the Plouse who were absent, ex- 
cept on the business of the House, being paid. 

He was always the friend of scientific investigation, and de- 
sired liberal appropriations for the coast survey and for the 
advancement of science. 

He never lost an opportunity to show his affection for his 
constituents, or his interest in the State of Ohio and the western 
country. I notice among a host of petitions presented by him, 
one from citizens of Washington and Athens counties wdiere he 
takes occasion to add: "There is not beyond the Allegheny 
mountains a people more eminent for sobriety of habits, social 
order and general intelligence." 

Although Mr. Vinton had been re-elected to Congress for 
fourteen successive years by constantly increasing majorities, 
yet he voluntarily withdrew to private life in 1837. 

At that time it was his intention never again to take any 
part in public affairs. His private business had long been neg- 
lected for the public service. He considered it a duty to amass 
a suitable competence for his family, and he said that he had 
never been able to do more than make temporary provisions out 
of the Congressional salar}^ for the necessities of his position. 

During an interval of six years he was engaged in various 
business projects, as well as in a lucrative and rapidly enlarging 
practice of his profession, and it was with unfeigned reluctance 
that he was again in 1843 drawn back into the House of Repre- 
sentatives. At that time several highlj' respectable men in his 
district were candidates, and there seemed to be no other way to 
adjust their differences but to select one who, by his conspicuous 



250 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [\'oL. 4 

former service, had gained the general esteem and confidence. 
Mr. Vinton was accordingly nominated and elected. 

It may be readily supposed that when Mr. \"inton re-entered 
Congress, his ripe experience and undoubted ability were at once 
recognized, and that he w'as given a leading place in the councils 
of the Nation. The Committee of Elections during that Congress 
had the most weighty issues placed before them, and he was 
assigned to that committee, where his experience and talent 
would prove of greatest value to the country. But he begged to 
be excused from serving on that committee on account of the 
state of his health, which was at that time two much impaired to 
admit of so severe a strain. He was then placed on the Judiciarj^ 
Committee, where he at once directed his attention with the 
clo.sest scrutiny to questions of constitutional law. 

His labors in this direction culminated in iSoO, in the prepa- 
ration of a most important organic law, which, later on, I shall 
speak of. 

A proposition of his, soon after he became a member of the 
Judiciary, was that an article should be proposed to the legisla- 
tures of the several States, as an amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States, to take effect from and after 18G0. regu- 
lating the mode of election of the President and the Vice Presi- 
dent, and in the first session of the Twenty-ninth Congress, 
184o, he re -introduced this amendment as a joint resolution. 

About the period of his re -entrance into Congress, Mr. 
Vinton was appointed one of a committee of nine to revise 
certain standing rules and orders of the House. This was a 
work he was well fitted to perform, having always been a close 
student of parliamentary law. Having added to his investiga- 
tions in this direction a valuable experience, he had gained a 
familiarity with all the rules regulating debate and the laws of 
the House. Tliis knowledge gave him great advantages as a 
party leader, enabling him to seize and avail himself of each 
occasion as it aro.se and gain any opportunity to be derived by 
a skillful tactician. Thus when he became Chairman of the 
Committee of Ways and Means, during the period of the war 
with Mexico, he evinced a special faculty at this most critical 
juncture for the systematic expedition of business. 



Samuel Finlcy Vinlon. 251 

Mr. Viuton also possessed one absolute qualification that 
enabled him to exert a dominating influence over others, in 
never losing command over himself. This remarkable and firm 
self-control must have resulted from the continued exercise of a 
severe mental discipline and unconquerable will power, inas- 
much as Mr. Vinton was naturally of a very sensitive, highly 
strung, nervous temperament, being a man of deep feeling and 
slight bodily frame. 

To a close observer and analj'st his appearance indicated 
very fairly what manner of man he was. His mild, but pene- 
trating, clear blue -gray eye meant a kindly, but well-balanced 
intellectual light, while his thin, compressed lips evinced the 
singular determination of his character, and the high and ample 
brow heralded a domain of thought that inspired respect. 

Soon after the terrible affliction in 1831, of the death of his 
dearly beloved wife, whose loss he never ceased to deplore till 
the day of his death, an affliction made all the more crushing by 
the sudden decease a few months later of his only son, a bright 
child of rare promise, his profusion of brown hair turned gray, 
and from gray soon softened into a silvery white that added a 
serious dignity to his appearance, while comparatively a young 
man. 

Mr. \'iutou's manner was calm and composed amidst the 
excitements of the political arena, but in social circles he was 
conversational, affable and suave, giving more than glimpses of 
the real tenderness of his nature. 

I pause midway in the recital of his life's history, affection- 
ately to transcribe this pen -portrait, from the ineffaceable im- 
pressions, the vivid coloring of his dear and honored presence 
stamped upon my heart and fixed in my mind's eye. Thrice 
happy tho.se whose virtues cause their children to ' ' rise up and 
call them blessed! " 

But to revert from the personality of the man to the crowded 
events of his busy life. 

On February 12, 184-1-, there arose a very acrimonious debate, 
involving the jurisdiction of the States, on the contested elec- 
tions of the members of the House of Representatives, elected 



252 Ohio Arch, ayid Ills. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 

by the general ticket system in the States of Xew Hampshire, 
Georgia, Missouri and Mississippi. 

Mr. Vinton made a speech that day in which he opposed the 
nullification of a solemn law of the land by the four States that 
had thought proper to refuse to comply with the law of Congress 
declaring that elections should be by single districts throughout 
the United States. He argued that if the law of Congress should 
be considered the valid law of the land, as a valid law, it puts 
aside State legislation. In the absence of any legislation by 
Congress, Mr. Vinton held that the States had unqualified juris- 
diction. Congress might interpose to alter, to frame another 
body of legislation. The duty was mandatory upon the States 
but discretionary with Congress. This is a provision of the Con- 
stitution of the United States, made in pursuance to the Consti- 
tution, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the 
contrary notwithstanding. At the close of his remarks Mr. 
Vinton^made an eloquent plea in behalf of sustaining the Con- 
stitution. 

On February 14, 1845, (second session twenty-eighth Con- 
gress), Mr. Vinton made a speech on the admission of Iowa and 
Florida into the Union, in which he forcibly exposed the danger 
arising from the policy of giving to the new States laid out in 
the West a greater extent of territory than they ought to have 
had, thus depriving the West of the political power to which she 
should be entitled. He pointed out that these States of sufficient 
area to contain a population equal to two or three Atlantic States 
have, in this way, no more representation in the Senate than any 
of them, adding, regarding the admission of Iowa, that he be- 
lieved the great Western \'nlley would become the conservative 
power of the Union. 

Mr. Vinton entered Congress in l<S2o, under the second 
administration of that model statesman, James Monroe, who had 
held the ship of State amidst threatening breakers taut and safe, 
and who left her, to all appearance, calmly anchored in tranquil 
seas. We were at pence and the country prosperous, while the 
public and tho.se who .served the public alike felt the ennobling 
influence of so wise and conservative a chief. 

It was a fortunate moment in which to enter Congress, and 



Samicrl Finlcy Vinton. 253 

the lessons of patriotism then taught sank deep into the heart of 
the earnest young member, and formed a controlling influence 
during his long and arduous career. 

During the succeeding administration of John Quincx- Adams 
this pleasing period of good feeling was swept away, and the strife 
of political clashing was heard throughout the land. Calhoun's 
baneful sectional ambition and Jackson's angry star Irid risen, 
while Adams, as pure a patriot as the countr\' has ever had, 
lacked the conciliatory dexterity and, possibly, the administrative 
ability of Monroe. 

Mr. Vinton at once applied himself to the questions of mo- 
ment as they arose, and when, in 1821*, Andrew Jackson was 
inaugurated he found that he was of necessity in conflict with 
the entire policy of this popular autocrat. With that peculiar 
sagacit}^ w'hich was always his from the first, he foresaw with an 
almost prophetic ken the disastrous result of Jackson's reckless 
and tyrannical policy. He was placed in strict opposition to the 
spirit that dominated the measures that prevailed during this 
prolonged administration of eight years of high-handed democ- 
racy that ended in the financial distress of the country. 

When Mr. \'inton re-entered Congress in 1843, the Whig 
party was enduring the humiliation of their mistake in the elec- 
tion of John Tyler, and were forced to look on while the iniquity 
of Texan annexation was being exacted. Their situation as a 
party was less painful when in open opposition to James K. Polk 
than it had been under the unexpected and unprepared for be- 
trayal of Tyler. 

During the odious war of Mexican Conquest forced upon 
the American people by Polk, Mr. Vinton w^as Chairman of the 
Committee of Ways and Means, with all its responsibilities at 
such a time. He had served on this committee since 184o and 
was fully conversant with the situation, so that when, in 1847, he 
was named chairman he knew how to guide the helm in this 
perilous time. 

Of this appointment Schouler says, in his history of ilie 
United States*: "Samuel F. Vinton, of Ohio, a member of ripe 



• Vol. V, p. 76. 



254 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 

years and experience in the House, who had declined to contend 
with Winthrop for the first prize, received with party approba- 
tion the distinction of Winthrop's selection for Chairman of the 
Ways and Means and leader upon tlie floor." 

Mr. Winthrop himself generously .says-'- of Mr. \'inton : 
" Now, the truth is that we never disagreed about anything, and 
that I was nominated and elected speaker after he had declined 
the nomination on account of his age and health, and with his 
earnest advocacy and support." 

Subsequently, during the long period of time that intervened 
in 1841), when Mr. Wintlirop, after sixty -three ballotings, failed 
to be re-elected speaker, it was resolved, that the order of the 
House might be preserved, "that Linn Boyd and Samuel F. 
Vinton act as chairmen of this House, each sitting alternately 
one day at a time, until a speaker is elected." 

Finally, however, this most obstinate partisan contest for the 
election of speaker, which had lasted until December J4 without 
the House having been able to effect an organization, was finally 
ended by the adoption of a resolution by the House, that the 
largest number of votes cast for any one member should elect 
the speaker. Accordingly Howell Cobb was declared duly elected, 
having received 102 votes against Robert C. Winthrop's 100. 

After this election, Mr. \'inton continued to remain upon the 
Committee of Ways and Means, but not as chairman. The 
period of his greatest activity- may, therefore, be fixed as within 
the two years of his leadership in the House. But these were 
years filled with the heavy burden of war, of legislative turmoil, 
of sectional strife, of the accomplishment of iniquitous schemes 
by the administration, and of financial strain. 

About this time, Mr. A'iiiton made a .series of very able 
speeches. February •}, 1848, he addressed the Hou.se on the 
project of direct taxation for the support of the war with Mexico. 
Mr. Vinton said " he never would vote to lay a direct tax to sup- 
port the war, so long as any other means remained by which the 
revenues of the country could be replenished. " 



' Remarks at a meeling of the Massachusetts Historical Society Octo- 
ber 1), 18'JO, p. 5. 



Samuel Fmley Vinton. 255 

"The war was begun in 1S4(!, and the country then had a 
revenue system which, had it been suffered to remain, would 
have brought into the treasury many milHons more than were 
now to be found there. * * * But the party in power had 
established the sub -treasury and cut the government off at a 
single blow, in a time of war, from all aid to be derived from the 
banking institutions and from the use of the ordinary business 
currency of the countr3^ Having thus created a necessity of an 
increased revenue to meet the war expenses, the}' proceeded at 
the same session to abolish the then existing tarifif of duties, 
and substituted another in its place, by which at least one- 
third of the duties were stricken off, and the revenue reduced 
accordingly." 

Mr. Vinton called upon the administration to revise its 
tariff. February 8, 1848, Mr. Vinton made a speech, showing 
how far below the actual needs of the war with Mexico, were 
the estimates made by the Executive. 

The Executive had stated that if the war with Mexico 
should be continued till July 1, 1848, a loan of twenty -three 
millions of dollars was all that would be wanted to carry the 
government forward to that date, and leave a surplus of four 
millions in the treasury. -•- * * 

The loan was granted by Congress, and the money obtained. 
And now they are informed that an additional loan of sixteen 
millions would be required. 

Then Mr. Vinton showed, by carefully-prepared estimates, 
that in reality the expenditures would far exceed that sum, and 
he made a sad disclosure of the present and the prospective con- 
dition of the financial affairs of the country. 

Looking into the executive estimates of the year for the 
prosecution of the war with Mexico, he showed how the income 
of the government had been overestimated by the secretary 
of the treasury, and its expenditures underestimated by the .sec- 
retary of war, and he then proceeded to discu.ss the various 
methods of meeting these demands. 

He deprecated any sacrifice of the public lands, and thought 
we should look to the customs for the support of the govern- 
ment. He called upon the government to abandon its mis- 



25G Ohio Arch, arid His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 

chievous free-trade policy and come back again to the protection 
of the home labor of the country as the only sure foundation of 
public prosperity, and of abundant supply of revenue. 

February 16, 1848, Mr. Vinton, availing himself of the 
privilege allowed him by the rules of the house to close the 
debate, made the concluding speech on the loan bill, in which he 
reviewed the discussion, taking up various points made by the 
Democratic party, and reiterated his opinions as to the preferable 
mode of raising revenue for the relief of the treasury. He 
clo-sed by saying that he felt assured that "no remedy short 
of peace and protection to the American laborer could restore to 
health and vigor a bleeding and sinking country." 

Mr. Vinton opposed to the last, not only the annexation of 
Texas, but its consequences. He thought that it was not the 
policy of this country to acquire any territory beyond the Rio' 
Grande. He deemed the war with Mexico unnecessary and un- 
constitutionall}' begun by the President of the United States. 
He also objected to the duties levied upon American citizens, 
and upon neutrals in those parts of Mexico which were in 
pos.session of the American army, under a tariff enacted by the 
President of the United States, as without warrant of law. 
And as to the rights and powers of the executive in time of war, 
he said the executive power was constantly increasing by impli- 
cation, and whatever power was once permitted to be exercised 
without being denied by the proper legislative authority, was 
considered as established forever. It was the congress of the 
United States that had the right to pass a tariff of duties. The 
constitution gave to congress exclusive power to levy taxes and 
raise armies. 

It is evident that Mr. \'inton preferred a decrease rather 
than an increa.se of executive power, for in his speech on the 
Oregon bill, he said "that he was led by experience of the past 
to oppo.se the veto altogether. In this bill he should vote for 
striking it out." 

It is to be supposed that had Mr. \'inton foreseen the speedy 
extinction of the slave power, he would have modified his ob- 
jections to an increase of territory beyond the Rio Grande. 



Samuel Finley Vinton. 25T 

But this is merely the supposition of the writer, for Mr. Vinton 
was very far-seeing. 

Upon the death of the iUustrious and venerable John 
Quincy Adams, which sad event occurred February 28, 1848, 
Mr. Vinton was appointed one of a committee of arrangements 
for the funeral ceremonies; and Februar}^ 24, when the house 
met to offer public testimonials of their profound respect, Mr. 
Vinton, among others, deliv^ered an eulogium which might well 
serve as a model for similar efforts. It is a masterpiece of 
brevity, simplicity, just thought suited to the occasion, and 
deep feeling. 

On February 12, 1849, Mr. Vinton, from the committee of 
ways and means, reported a bill to establish the Department 
of the Interior, explaining at length the scope of this depart- 
ment. This bill was passed February 15th, entitled "An Act to 
Establish the Home Department." 

The objections so strenuously urged against this bill at this 
day read strangely, for there was a heated debate on the subject. 
Schouler .says : ' ' One single act of legislation left the session 
notable. This was the creation of a new executive department, 
styled 'The Home Department,' but formalh- described in the 
body of the act as ' The Department of the Interior.' =•- -■- * 
Vinton, from the Ways and Means, reported accordingly a bill 
in the House, which went through by a strong non-partisan 
vote, and the Senate, on the last day of the session, concurred in 
the measure."* 

It was one of the distinctive excellencies of Mr. Vinton that 
he had a remarkable faculty of making complex questions clear. 
An analytical mind and great force and simplicity of expression 
obtained this result. 

April 80, ISoO, he proposed a change in an organic law, 
which of itself alone entitles him to the grateful recollection of 
the country. It was proposed in the shape of two amendments 
to the Census Bill. Mr. Vinton said that the Constitution 
enjoined an apportionment of the Representatives amongst the 
several States, according to their respective federal numbers,, 



*Schouler, History of the United States, volume 0, page 121. 



258 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [\''OL. 4 

every ten years, and this law which directs the taking of the 
census is by its nature and object an organic law. The amend- 
ment guards against any contingenc}', or its consequences, by 
providing that in case Congress shall omit at any future time to 
pass a census act before the commencement of the year, when it 
is required to be taken, then it shall be taken in conformity with 
his act, which was as follows: 

"Be it enacted, that this act shall continue in force until 
altered or repealed; and if no other law be passed providing for 
the taking of any subsequent census of the United States, on or 
before January 1 of any year, when, by the Constitution of the 
United States, any future enumeration of the inhabitants thereof 
is required to be taken, such census shall, in all things, be taken 
and completed according to the provisions of this act." 

The second amendment established the permanent organiza- 
tion of the House of Representatives. 

The substance of this proposed new rule of apportionment 
was, that after the completion of each census the aggregate 
result w'as to be divided by a certain number, and the product 
of such division made the ratio or rule of apportionment of 
Representatives among the several States. Then in order to 
ascertain the representative population of each State the whole 
number of such representative population must be divided by a 
ratio already determined on. Mr. \'inton explained, that this 
would fix the nui;ii)er of the House on a permanent footing, as 
heretofore the body became disorganized every ten years and 
took the chance of reconstruction. Added to this were minor 
propositions with regard to the adjustment of fractions. 

The census law, although organic, was heretofore so framed 
that in case of an omission by Congress to direct it, there could 
be no apportionment of Representatives, consequently no House 
of Representatives, after the time when by the Constitution the 
apportionment should be made. 

And thus by such an omission the House would have been 
dissolved and the Governmcni in fact unhinged, without the pos- 
sibility of reorganizing the House and putting the law-making 
power in motion again by any constitutional mode. 



Samite/ J'^in/ey Vm/on. 259 

It will be seen that, failing to make this change, the Gov- 
ernment remained only temporaril}-, not permanently, organized 
under the plan of legislation heretofore pursued, which was: 
First, a law to take the census, and then a law to declare what 
number of members shall constitute the body, and then to appor- 
tion them among the several States. It ma}- readily be seen that 
if either be omitted the Government is unhinged. 

IkU l)y this amendment of Mr. Vinton, the existence of the 
Government is put be3'ond hazard from this cause. Thus Mr. 
Vinton fittingly, as he drew near the clo.se of his public career, 
in providing a law for the self-pre.servation and perpetuity of the 
Government, performed the highest function of statesmanship 
by completing in this direction the organization of the Govern- 
ment and placing it beyond the reach of accident or faction from 
this cause. 

And the simplicity of the arrangement brings it within the 
general comprehension, for by a division of the whole represen- 
tative population of all the States, by a number fixed upon, the 
ratio is thus ascertained which would be entitled to a member. 

Then by another division of the whole representative popu- 
lation of each State by this ratio the number of members for 
each State is arrived at. Mr. Vinton had proposed the number 
200. but considered that as quite subordinate, although in his 
own opinion the propo.sed number was too large. 

A \ery able public man and jurist, the Hon. C. H. Grosvenor, 
of Ohio, in a letter before me, in reference to this law of appor- 
tionment, says: "The principle of the law of I80O, which Mr. 
Vinton introduced, is still applied to the .statutes relating to the 
congressional apportionment." * * * 

"So the estimate, following the law of 1850, is this: Con- 
gress decides first how many shall constitute the House of Rep- 
resentatives and this number is the divisor, and the entire popu- 
lation is divided b\- tho.se figures, and the result is the ratio of 
representation. * * '■■ So you see that the principle upon 
which that law proceeded has been perpetuated through all the 
years since his time, Mr. Vinton having laid the foundation for 
an equitable statute for all time to come." 



260 Oliio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 

:}: * * "About this time a compliment received was the 
naming'^' of Vinton County, which was formed March 23, 1850. 
from Gallia. Athens, Hocking, Ross and Jackson counties, and 
named in honor of Samuel Finley Vinton." 

Mr. \'inton was a Representative in Congress twenty -two 
years in all; from 1823 to 1837, and again from 1843 to l8ol. 
He then voluntarily withdrew from the turmoil of public life, 
and most positively declined a re-election. 

While Mr. Vinton was still in Congress, the venerable ex- 
President, John Quincy Adams, said of him in l.s4i), that "he 
knew him well; he was a man of decided ability; ver}' few, if 
any, in Congress were his superiors; when he spoke, it was to 
good effect; he was a man. not only of talents, but of integrity. "f 

And this is no stinted praise from one colleague to another, 
while both were actively engaged in the political arena. 

On the accession of Mr. Fillmore to the Presidency, Mr. 
Vinton was tendered the office of Secretary of the Interior, 
which he felt compelled to decline on account of impaired 
health, as he had previously declined, in 1847, and for the same 
reason, the Speakership of the House. 

In 1851, Mr. \'inton consented to accept the candidacy for 
Governor of Ohio, and this at a time when, owing to a very 
peculiar combination of unfavorable circumstances, defeat was 
considered almost certain, although it was hoped that so strong a 
nomination might possibl}- ensure success. 

Mr. Vinton himself regarded the election of any Whig as 
impo.ssible, at the time he generously allowed his name to be 
used, nor was he mistaken in his opinion, as to the result. 

Of this election Schouler says: "Ohio remained with the 
opposition as before, though the Whigs put up Vinton, one of 
the ablest and purest of their party, as a candidate." (\'ol. V, 
page 226.) 

In 1853, Mr. Vinton assumed the presidency of the Cleve- 
land and Toledo Railroad, which he consented to retain for one 
year, for the purpose of a thorough organization, when he re- 



* Howe's Ohio, Vol. III., p. 4U1. 
t Vinton Memorial, p. IWT. 



Samuel Finley Vinton. 261 

signed the post and returned to Washington City, wliere he con- 
tinued to reside until tlie period of his death, May 11, 18(i2. 

The Hon. Thomas Kwing, of Ohio, wrote of him upon 
hearing of his death: 

"I feel his loss deepl\ . Though for ten or fifteen years he 
had more influence in the House of Representatives, much more 
than any other man in it, yet the nation has never appreciated 
him fully according to his merits. He was a wise, sagacious, 
persevering statesman; almost unerring in his perception of the 
right, bold in pursuing and skillful in sustaining it, he held 
always a large control over the minds of men with whom he 
acted. Within the range of my acquaintance, he has hardly left 
his peer behind him." 

And on March 3, 1880, Alexander H. Stephens, of Georgia, 
in a speech made in the House of Representatives, alludes to 
Mr. Vinton as a Whig leader in the.se words: "Samuel F. Vinton, 
of Ohio, whose acquaintance with the rules, great prudence, and 
sound judgment, rendered him, perhaps, the most prominent 
leader on the Whig side." 

This is a dispassionate verdict, given nearly twenty years 
after his death, and ma\- thus well pass into history. 

Mr. Vinton was always in his political affiliations a Wliig of 
the old school, and he regarded with dread the radicalism of the 
ultra Republicans. Still, during the last j-ears of his life, the 
moderate Republicans regarded him as one of themselves ; yet, 
when urged by old Whigs to nominate him for the Presidency in 
1860, as a man who would secure the conservative vote North 
and South, they replied " that he was too good a man to secure 
the nomination." 

"^ " During the closing years of his life he lived in dignified 
retirement, his home being a hospitable center, much frequented 
by the best society of the country, where Mr. Vinton was con- 
sulted by the public men of the day on all leading questions. 

"When the dark days of civil war, during which his life 
closed, threatened the nation, many and anxious were the delib- 
erations held at his house as to the best means to avert the swift- 



■ Cyclopaedia of the State of Ohio, Vol. IV, page 219. 



262 Ohio Arch, and His. Society Publications. [Vol. 4 

coming calamity of secession, but his prescient mind foresaw 
from the first the impending ruin. 

"During his residence in Washington as a private citizen 
he never opened a law office for the transaction of law business, 
but would when desired argue a law case of importance before 
the Supreme Court of the United States. He was remarked as 
singularly successful in the prosecution of his cases, and this 
success doubtless arose in great part from his habit of patient 
investigation and clear analysis. He exhausted every subject he 
discus.sed, and presented his thoughts without rhetorical flourish, 
but with wonderful lucidity. 

Mr. Vinton never associated himself with any of the relig- 
ious denominations, although he reverentl}- believed in God and 
His revealed law, so far as he understood it. No purer or more 
unselfish patriot ever served his country. His first and highest 
thought was the national good, and in this ardent desire for the 
common welfare he merged his own career and all personal con- 
siderations. 

His last public service of note was as a member of the cele- 
brated Peace Convention, held in lisijl. Some weeks previous to 
his death he had yielded to the urgent solicitations of many, and 
accepted a place as one of the three commi.ssioners appointed b}'' 
President Lincoln to adjust the claims of slaveholders in the 
District of Columbia at the time of the manumission of thtir 
slaves. 

Mr. \'inlon died of traumatic erysipelas after a brief illness, 
and it was his dying request to be buried in the cemetery of 
Gallipolis, O., lieside the dear wife who.se memory he had so 
faithfully cherished for over thirty years. His only surviving 
child is the writer of this all too inadequate sketch. 



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